LUKE 6:46-49 REVEALING YOUR FOUNDATION2011 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Luke 6:46-49 Revealing Your Foundation

00:00
You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2011. Well, as we finish up Luke chapter 6 this morning, we're looking at something that's probably familiar to most of us. It's something we've heard for many years. We've read it. We've studied it. And I want to encourage you once again, even though these things are familiar to us, to

00:29
I want to encourage you to let God breathe fresh life into this passage. Really be seeking Him throughout our time together this morning and allow Him to speak to you and to work in you the way that He desires to.

00:43
Because the Word is living and active. And there's some things, there's some real challenges that God wants to present to us this morning. And if you want to continue on that challenge later on today, I would encourage you to check out the latter part of Matthew chapter 7.

00:59
I

01:19
I want to take a quick survey, and if you could just by a show of hands let me know, have you ever been wrong? If so, raise your hand. Anybody ever been wrong in here? Nobody? No, I'm just kidding. Of course, everybody, right? Everybody has been wrong. Think about this. Have you ever made a mistake?

01:39
Of course you have, right? You make mistakes, I make mistakes, we make wrong decisions, we are misled, we are confused, and we don't know everything. And so we get things wrong sometimes, and we make mistakes. Now let me ask you, if you are wrong...

02:02
about your life and your faith, your religion, your hope of eternity. If you are wrong, when would you want to find out? Right now when you can do something about it or when it's too late, when you stand before God in the final day. When would you want to find out? Because you and I

02:27
We're capable of being wrong. It's something we need to evaluate. It's something we need to consider. What if you are wrong? What if what you believe is not actually reality? That's what Jesus is dealing with as he finishes up his message here in Luke chapter 6.

02:47
He's ending his message really with a call to apply it, to put into practice. The message began in verse 20 of Luke chapter 6, and he's been teaching us. We've been studying it through the past couple of weeks. He's been teaching us various things, and he concludes with saying, now put it into practice. Now go live it out. Don't just listen and say, amen, that was a great message. Oh, those were some good points. Wow, what a challenge.

03:15
But now go and do it. Go live it. Go make it real in your life. And so this morning as we look at this passage, it's a real challenge for us to live out the things that Jesus has instructed us to do so that we make sure that we don't end up on that final day standing before God and having the wake-up call of,

03:41
Where God says, you thought you were fine. You thought you were good. But that whole time, you were wrong. And so there's three things we want to look at or highlight this morning as we look at this portion. The first point I would share with you is that

03:57
You and I, we need to match our actions with our words. You need to match your actions with your words. And we see that here very clearly in verse 46. It says, Jesus here asks a very simple question, but it has some pretty challenging applications to our hearts.

04:28
Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things which I say? Is it possible to call Jesus Lord and not be saved? Is it possible to say, Jesus is my Lord and yet not have salvation? Is that feasible? Is that possible? Let me remind you who Jesus is talking to. In verse 20 of Luke chapter 6 says,

04:57
It says, And then the rest of the chapter records Jesus' words in this message that he is delivering to his disciples. Jesus is speaking to people who raise their hands and say, Yes, I want to follow Jesus.

05:19
Yes, I want to be his disciple. I want to walk with him. I want to be like him. I want to spend eternity with him. He's talking to his disciples. He's not speaking to the world, to unbelievers. Of course, these things could definitely speak to and he could use these words to minister to those who do not know the Lord. But primarily, directly, he's speaking to those who say yes to

05:47
I'm a disciple of Jesus Christ. I will follow Him. He's looking at people in church. He's looking at you today and He's saying, "Why do you call me Lord, but you don't do the things which I say?" Your actions must match your words. And He's calling into question, if it doesn't match, how can that be? Why is that the case?

06:21
Now for you and I today, we use the word Lord really generally only in the context of we're referring to God, we're referring to Jesus, and we use the word Lord in that context. But that's not the only context of the word Lord as Jesus was speaking these things. The people understood the word Lord. It was something that was familiar to them because, well, it's what slaves...

06:54
Called their masters. And that was something that was prevalent in their day. They very clearly understood the master and slave relationship. The slave has no rights of their own. The slave is subject to the master. The slave is not able to just, you know, take a vacation, enjoy Thanksgiving whenever the slave wants to. They can only do so if the master permits. The slave cannot just choose to

07:27
Go this direction or go that direction or use energy in that way. The slave is subject to the master. And that master is their lord. The word lord means supreme in authority. And so slaves would call their masters lord. They would say, you are the supreme authority in my life and I am unable to do anything without your say, without your okay.

07:59
You're the master, I'm the slave. Now this is the same type of relationship that you and I have with Jesus. We talk about making him our Lord and Savior. It's saying, you're my Lord, I can do nothing apart from you, apart from your say, you have full authority. But here Jesus is asking the question of those who say Lord, of those who say, yes, you're the master, you're the supreme authority in my life.

08:34
And then he's pointing out the contradiction now by the way that they actually live. Because he says, you call me Lord, Lord, but you do not do the things which I say. So you're saying, you are the supreme authority in my life, but then you don't obey him. And so Jesus is calling into question. He's calling us to question. How can you say that I'm your Lord when you don't do what I say? And it's a challenge for us today.

09:06
Do your actions match your words? I think you would probably say today, yes, Jesus is my Lord. You would probably agree, Jesus is the supreme authority in my life. But the question is, not do you say that, but do you do what Jesus says? You see, Jesus is pointing out that there are those who are fake followers. There's fake disciples.

09:41
And they fool others, and even worse, they fool themselves, but they're not real. They're not genuine. They are faking it. Now, again, I would ask, when do you want to find out whether or not this is you? When would you want to find out? When you stand before the Lord? Is that when you want to find out whether or not He really is your Lord? Or would you rather find out now when you have an opportunity to do something about it?

10:19
Jesus brought up this point in Matthew chapter 7. Right before he's sharing the same portion we're studying today in Matthew 7, he says in Matthew 7, 21, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Jesus says, look, not everybody who says, Lord, enters into heaven. So just because you say Jesus is Lord, that doesn't mean

10:52
That you'll enter into heaven. That's what Jesus is saying. Not everyone who says, Lord, to me, Jesus says, will enter into the kingdom of heaven. But instead he says, he who does the will of my Father in heaven. So Jesus is pointing out, it's not just when you say Lord, but it's when I am your Lord. When you do God's will. Because when you do God's will, it proves that I really am your Lord. And so you can't just say it, you have to live it out.

11:23
But Jesus goes on to say some very alarming things in verse 22 of Matthew chapter 7. He says, Jesus says some things here that we need to consider and take seriously.

11:53
Because he says in verse 22, many will say to me in that day. Jesus says, look, on the final day of judgment, there'll be people standing before Jesus. There'll be a big group of them who say, you're Lord, and we prophesied in your name. We preached the gospel in your name. We prayed for people in your name. We healed people in your name. We did miracles in your name. We cast out demons in your name.

12:26
There'll be this big group of people. He says many, not few, not a couple. There will be many. There will be a multitude of people who stand before the Lord on that final day. They are thoroughly convinced they are saved. They're completely convinced we have salvation. And they stand before God that day and they present the reason why they should enter into eternity. And they say, we've prophesied, we've cast out demons, we've worked miracles all in your name.

13:01
And Jesus says, I will declare to them, I never knew you, depart from me. Jesus is addressing the issue of self-deception. You and I are fully capable of deceiving ourselves. And at the same time as I say that, we're thinking, yeah, but I'm not deceived. I can understand how that person could deceive themselves, but I'm not deceived. But understand, people who have deceived themselves

13:40
are thoroughly convinced that they have not deceived themselves. Right? Because if we were convinced that we deceived ourselves, then we would change our mind. Right? Right?

13:51
If we're convinced, hey, I'm wrong, then I would change my mind. It's something we need to allow God to challenge our hearts in, even though we think, hey, I'm fine, I don't need to worry about it. Because what Jesus says is, there's going to be many who think that they're fine, and then in the final day, as they stand before the Lord, that's when they learn that they're not fine. And so the question is, when would you rather find out whether or not Jesus is truly your Lord?

14:18
And I would suggest to you that right now, today, is the better time because now you can do something about it. You have the opportunity to make some corrections and to turn to Him. Your foundation, which we'll be talking about in the next few verses, your foundation is revealed by your obedience to Jesus' words. And so it's not about you calling Him Lord or working and doing things outwardly in His name.

14:49
But it's doing what He says which reveals the foundation that you, your life, and your faith are built upon. And so the things that Jesus has been teaching are not just good suggestions, good principles to live by. These are His commands as a master to His slaves. And we can call Him Lord, but the real question is, do we do what He says? Do we live with Him as our Lord?

15:26
Is he our master? Is he the supreme authority in our life? Well, I want to look just real briefly at some of the things we've been studying over the past couple of weeks to get an idea of some of these things that Jesus has been commanding. We looked first of all in verses 20 through 26 at the blessings and the woes that Jesus pronounced. And he talked about different conditions. He said, if you're poor, you're blessed.

15:52
Putting it in the terms that we're studying today, if you're poor, you have a good foundation. Because we talked about poor, not just talking about financially, but you're poor in spirit. And you're relying upon God. You're looking to the Lord. You have nothing without Him. And so you have a good foundation because you're looking to the Lord. You're relying upon the Lord. But if you're rich, He said, woe to the rich. If you think, I don't need anything. I don't need any help. I know what I need to know. I have what I need to have.

16:26
then it is revealing that you have a bad foundation. He said, blessed are you who hunger. Again, if you're hungering and thirsting for righteousness, hungering for the things of God, it's showing there's some good foundation there. You're seeking after and pursuing the things of God. But if you're full, he said, woe to you. If you're not seeking after and pursuing God, it's revealing a bad foundation. You're not founded upon the rock. If you weep,

16:57
Good foundation. If you laugh, bad foundation. If you're persecuted for the name of Christ, it reveals, it shows you have a good foundation. But if you are liked by everybody, it reveals and it shows that you have a bad foundation. So blessed are you in these conditions and woes to you are in these conditions because these things reveal the underlying issues of the heart and the foundation of your life. Well, then he went on in verses 27 through 36 to talk about loving your enemies.

17:27
And if you love your enemies, it reveals a good foundation to your life, to your heart, to your faith. If you can love your enemies. If you do good to those who hate you. If you bless those who curse you. If you pray for those who spitefully use you. If you turn the other cheek. And all those things that we studied there in that portion. It reveals, it uncovers, it shows there's a solid foundation underneath. But on the other side...

17:58
If you can only love those who love you, well, it demonstrates, it reveals that there's a lack of foundation in your life. If you're only capable of loving people that love you, you're lacking a foundation. If you're only capable of doing good to those who do good back to you, it reveals there's no foundation there. There's some issues that need to be addressed. If you only lend to people who can pay you back, it reveals, it demonstrates that

18:34
Your foundation is bad. It's not a solid foundation. Well, then last week we looked at verses 37 through 45 and the subject of being judgmental, judging people. And so we learned there Jesus was saying, hey, if you're judging and condemning, well, it reveals the bad foundation of your heart and of your life. But if you're forgiving, if you're merciful, as your heavenly Father is merciful, as he says in verse 36,

19:08
It reveals, it uncovers and shows that there's a good foundation there. And so there's some real serious challenges just in this message that Jesus taught. But of course, as we're looking at these things, it applies not just to this particular chapter, but all of God's word. Jesus says, why do you call me Lord, Lord? And then don't love your enemies.

19:35
I'm telling you love your enemies and then you don't. So how can you say, Lord, Lord? How can you call me your master when you do not obey me? James tells us in James chapter 1 verse 22, he says, be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. James says, be a doer of the word. Notice what he's talking about there at the end of verse 22. He says, deceiving yourselves.

20:05
Self-deception. Again, this is an issue that Jesus is addressing today. It's an issue that we need to allow God to work in our hearts in and evaluate because you make mistakes and you've been wrong before. How can you know that when you stand before God, you'll have a strong foundation and be able to enter into eternity with Him? How do you know you're not deceiving yourself? What James says, here's how to know.

20:38
Be a doer of the word and not a hearer only. You see, James says, look, if you're just listening and you might say good message, you might say amen, ooh, that was challenging, oh, that spoke to my heart, you could say all those things. But if you don't do it, if you don't take that thing and then live it out, if you don't take those scriptures and then put them into practice, he says you're deceiving yourself. See, you and I, we can sit through great Bible studies, we can read the Bible backward and forward and

21:15
Study it, memorize it, know it. But if we don't do it, we're just deceiving ourselves. And we think, I'm fine. And we call him Lord, Lord. But then we don't do what it says. Your foundation is revealed by your obedience to Jesus' words. Warren Wiersbe says, how easy it is to learn a religious vocabulary and even memorize Bible verses and religious songs and yet not obey God's will.

21:49
You see, this is the danger that we need to address. It's so easy for us to learn to say the right things. We learn the Christianese, the Christian vocabulary. We learn the verses to quote when people are in different situations. We learn those things. It's so easy to learn those things and to learn the songs and to learn the habits and rituals of attending church and being part of a Christian community.

22:15
We can learn all those outward things very easily and yet at the same time not obey God's will. Not be obedient to the things that Jesus has commanded. There's this danger of self-deception. And we think we're fine. It's not just that we're fooling other people, although that happens too, but we're fooling ourselves. Where we are convinced everything's okay. I have eternal life. No need for concern when I stand before God.

22:53
But Jesus says, you need to evaluate and make sure your actions match your words. Make sure when you call him Lord, that your life proves that he is Lord. You see, we need a standard that's higher than ourselves. Because we are subject to error. Because we make mistakes. We make bad judgment calls. We get led astray. We make bad decisions. We get deceived by other people. And so if I'm the standard...

23:35
And I live my life based on what I think, what I've determined is good, what I want. I'm in trouble if I'm the standard because I make mistakes. We need a standard that's higher than ourselves in order to evaluate our hearts and make sure we're on the right track, that we're doing and living in a right relationship with God. And we have that standard. It's not as if there is no standard. The standard is the Word of God.

24:13
And so now the standard is the word, our obedience to it reveals where we really stand. And we may not be fully comfortable with that. But when would you rather find out? Right now, when you can repent, when God can work in your heart, when you can turn yourself over to Him and allow Him to forgive and finish the work that He began in you, or later on, when it's too late, when you stand before Him and He says, depart from me, I never knew you.

24:51
Jesus commands our obedience. Make sure that your actions match your words. Well, the second thing we see as we continue on in verse 47 and 48 is that now we need to build our life upon the rock. Build your life upon the rock.

25:11
Now that we've brought out this issue into the open, now that we realize, okay, there is the potential of self-deception. I could be deceiving myself and convinced that I'm fine when in reality, I'm on my way to hell. That's a possibility. Every single one of us is fully capable of that. So what do we do?

25:34
How do we address this issue of self-deception? Well, Jesus will go on to tell us, build your life upon the rock. Look at verse 47 and 48. He says, whoever comes to me and hears my sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like. He is like a man building a house who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock.

25:58
And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house and could not shake it for it was founded on the rock. Now Jesus goes on to give us a parable, a picture, an illustration of the point that he is making. He gives us this picture of a man building a house. And I love this.

26:24
The illustrations and examples that Jesus uses. There's strength and there's power in them because of their simplicity. Every one of us can understand the picture that Jesus is painting here. It's simple enough for us to grasp. You don't have to be a contractor or a building inspector or know city codes. You can understand building a house with a strong foundation.

26:56
You can grasp that. It's simple. And yet it strikes right at the very core of our hearts and faith. It's beautiful the way the Lord uses these pictures to challenge us. And so the picture is a house.

27:09
That is being built with a good foundation. So that when the flood comes, when the storm hits, the stream beats against the house, but it cannot shake it. Now you and I have all seen the videos and images of houses that were hit by the water and swept away. We'll talk about that in just a couple of verses. But here Jesus is saying, it's a house that's built. So even though that water comes, it stands strong.

27:40
So as Jesus paints this picture, he's saying, this is you. You are the person building the house. And the house is your life or your faith, your salvation in Jesus Christ. The rock that is the foundation is Jesus' commands. And so if you build your life, if you build your faith upon the commands of Jesus Christ, then when the storms come, when the flood hits, you will not be shaken.

28:12
Notice what he says in verse 47. He says, Three things here he says. What are we to do? Come to Jesus, hear him, and then obey him. Whoever comes to me, hears my sayings, and does them. These are the things that he's calling us to do.

28:44
Here's what you and I as believers need to live out in our lives. We need to come to Jesus. And I don't just mean, you know, at the Harvest Crusade, you raise your hand, you go on the field, you give your life to the Lord. I don't just mean a one-time occasion. But this is to be the manner of our life that we go to Jesus. That we come to Jesus with our lives, with our issues, with our situations, regularly, daily, throughout the day even. That we come to Jesus.

29:16
But not that we just come to Jesus, but then we hear Him. We listen to what He says. We say, Jesus, what do you have to say about this? What do you want in this situation? But then we take it a step further, not just hearing what He says, but then doing what He says, obeying Him.

29:36
This is the Christian life as it's meant to be lived. And this is the way to build your house upon the rock. It's the only way to build your house upon the rock. There's no other way. You need to have, you must have a relationship with Jesus Christ where you go to Him, you hear Him, and then you do what He says. That is the only way to have assurance of salvation. That's the only way to have your house built upon the rock so that it cannot be shaken.

30:07
And so he likens the person who does this. The person who comes to Jesus, hears Jesus and obeys Jesus. He says that person is like a man who building a house dug deep and laid the foundation upon the rock. That person is like a man who dug deep to lay the foundation upon the rock. As I was meditating on this portion this week, it reminded me of a conversation that I had with Pastor Tom back when I was in Okinawa a few years ago.

30:39
And he was explaining to us

30:42
How in Okinawa, because it's an island, there's a lot of things that fluctuate. The soil fluctuates. And there's a lot of, also because of the location where they're at, there's a lot of very severe storms that they get hit by, typhoons and such. And so they have to make sure that their buildings are really strong. And so what they do in Okinawa is they take these poles. Picture like an electric pole or a light pole, a little bit wider. And they take those poles and they drive them all the way into the ground.

31:11
And so the pole goes deep into the ground, into the core of the island. And they put those all around where they're going to build their house and then they lay their foundation attaching it to these pylons or these poles that they stick into the ground. So that the house is founded upon the rock. And then the soil changes, it goes up and down, but the house doesn't move. Then the typhoon hits and there's massive waves

31:39
winds and waves but the house is not shaken because it's built into the rock it's attached to the core of the island this is the picture that Jesus is painting here

31:52
He says, if you will come to me and hear my words and then do what I say, you'll be like that. You'll be building your house, drilling down deep, attaching yourself to the rock. And so all kinds of things may change and severe winds may hit, but you won't be moved because you're attached to the rock, the sure foundation, which is Jesus Christ.

32:18
And so we must come to Him, hear Him, and obey Him. That's how to build our house upon the rock. Now sometimes, people, they dig down a little bit, but they don't dig down deep enough. We get comfortable pretty quickly. And we can kind of come to the decision, you know, that's good enough. I've achieved enough growth as a Christian. I've achieved enough depth as a believer. We get comfortable where we're at. Okay, this is good, you know. I've met my goals.

32:56
You know, I continue to go to church pretty regularly. I don't swear half as much as I used to. You know, my family's starting to kind of come to order and everything's good. And so I'm going to kick back for a while. This is good. This is great. And sometimes people settle for, instead of digging down to the rock, they dig down to like some stable soil. And it'll last for a little bit, but it won't be as solid as the rock. And many people have built lives on stable soil.

33:30
And their lives last for a while. Their marriages last for a while. It seems like everything's fine. But if your house is not founded upon the rock, it will come crashing down. You see, we look around and we can see a lot of good people in this life. There's a lot of good people. They've got good morals. They live a good life. Even, I fully don't understand this, but there's good marriages outside of the church. They live by good principles.

34:10
They've learned some valuable truths. And they may make it to the end of their life, being a good person, in a good marriage, having a good job, or whatever the case may be. But if they're not founded upon the rock, Jesus Christ, the life that they've built, no matter how good they were, will come crashing down. If it's not built on eternal truths, it will not last. And so I want to ask you to consider today, how deep are you digging? You're at church, great, good job.

34:56
But how deep are you digging? Are you drawing near to the Lord? Are you coming to Him, hearing Him, and then obeying Him? You know, here at the church, we seek to attach everything that we do to the Word of God. To make sure that the things that we practice here are founded in and commanded by the Word of God. So we practice communion. Not because the church has practiced it historically for a long time.

35:30
But because as we look back at the Word of God, we have the command, we have the example, we have the instruction on how to do it. We practice baptism. We go back to the Word of God and see it was commanded by the Lord. It was practiced by the church in the book of Acts. Instruction was given about it in the epistles. We find the instruction, the command, it's deep in the Word of God.

35:57
We do services and Bible studies and things that we do because it's based upon the Word of God. And what I would encourage you to do as an individual is to take that same principle and apply it to your own life. And take the different aspects of your life and make sure that

36:17
That it's founded deep into the Word of God. I don't mean just, you know, find a verse that supports whatever you do or want to do and then, you know, just grab it. Whatever context it's in doesn't really matter. Just, hey, well it says I can do this and so I'm going to do that. No, but I mean, you need to study the Word of God. You need to go to Jesus and hear what He says. Lord, what do you want to say about this? And then obey Him. The workplace where you're at, is that in obedience to Jesus? Yes.

36:50
Is it founded upon the rock? The occupation that you have. The career that you've chosen. Is it founded upon the rock? The way that you work. The where that you work. The why that you work. The how that you work. Are those things founded upon, deeply rooted in His instruction to you? For you as parents. The way that you parent. Is it based upon what Jesus has instructed and what the Word of God has declared?

37:23
Or is it based upon other things? The place that you live, the lifestyle that you live, the way that you spend money. We could go on and on. You get the point. Let the Lord speak to your heart. We need to take each aspect of our lives and go back to the Word of God. Going to Jesus, hearing Him, and then obeying Him. Is He the supreme authority in your life? How deep are you digging? You see, we kind of dig a little bit and say, okay, I'm going to church, I'm fine, I'm comfortable, boom.

37:57
But are you really making sure that your foundation is in Christ? Have you dug down deep? And think about it this way. If you had to live for the rest of eternity in the place that you're living at right now, how sure of that foundation would you want to be? I tell you what, I'd be at home right now with a shovel, digging it up. I want to see. I need to make sure. If I have to live in this place for eternity, I need to make sure it has a strong foundation.

38:34
Well, your life is built upon something and it's going to determine where you spend eternity. How sure are you that it's founded upon the rock? Have you dug down deep? And how do you dig down deep? Jesus said, here's what this person is like. The one who hears my words, or comes to me rather, hears my words and then does them.

39:08
and obeys me. That's how to dig down deep. And listen, this is why we so strongly encourage you to spend time in the Word of God on your own. You can't just come and hear a good Bible study. You can't just come and hear somebody else teach.

39:25
You need on your own to have your personal relationship with God. And to do that, you need to be spending time in the word of God on your own and hearing from Jesus and coming to him with your life and situations and saying, this is what I'm facing. This is what I'm doing. This is where I'm at in my life. God, what do you say? And as you search the scriptures, he will speak to you. You need to hear him and then do what he says.

39:51
It goes back to this personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. You need to know Him and hear His voice and then follow His instruction. And so again, this is why I exhort you and encourage you so strongly. You need to join with us in going through the Bible in three years. Because not only do you need to be part of the work that God's doing here in this body if you're a member here, but you need to be in the Word on a daily basis.

40:19
And you need to dig down deep and make sure your life is founded upon the rock because that determines your eternity. You need to make sure that you're not just fooling yourself or kidding yourself. That you're not deceiving yourself. You need to make sure. Because he goes on in this picture that he paints. He says, when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against the house, but it could not shake it. Notice he says, when the flood arose.

40:56
Not if or, you know, by chance or one time the flood arose. But no, this is a guarantee. There will be floods. There will be trials. There will be storms. Both now and then the final one will be when we stand before the Lord for eternity. When it happens, the house that is founded upon the rock, it cannot be shaken. We will face floods and trials. We will face difficulties. Now,

41:27
As I've been studying for this, I've been referring to them in my own heart and mind as merciful trials. The things that we experience in this life, not to say that they're not difficult or hard or painful, but they are merciful trials. Yeah, they're severe tragedies, but they're merciful trials. Because these trials that we go through, when the floods beat against our house, it uncovers our foundation. It reveals...

42:05
Whether or not we are founded upon the rock. You know, some of you have gone through some very severe, serious, intense trials. And some of you right now, at this moment, are going through those kinds of trials. And through those things, I call them merciful trials, because through those things, God is doing two things. Number one, He's showing any foundational issues that might be there. And so as you undergo that lost,

42:38
As you undergo that difficulty, that pain, that hardship, that hurt, whatever it is, as you go through that, God is able to use that situation to show you, look, this part of your life is not founded upon the rock so that you can dig down deep, so that you can make sure you hit the rock, that you connect with the Lord, that you hear from Him and then you obey Him.

43:04
And so these storms are merciful because he shows us now while we can do something about it, where we're off, where we're cracked, where we need to pay attention and dig down deep and connect with him. That's the first thing. But the second thing God does through these floods and storms that hit our lives, the reason why I call them merciful trials, is because through these, he shows you the strength of your foundation so that you can have a more clear hope of eternity.

43:35
You see, as you endure the trials and floods of this life, God is proving to you, yes, this foundation upon the Lord Jesus Christ, it's strong. And so you can have complete confidence and hope that when you stand before God on the day of judgment, and you stand before God to enter into eternity, your foundation will stand. And He's proven that

44:09
By the storms of this life. You see, we look at it from the other side. We say, oh man, it's just so terrible. This person has to go through these things. If we look at it from the other perspective, they have a sure foundation that you and I may not have. They have a clarity of the hope of heaven that you and I can't understand if we've not gone through those same types of storms and floods. And so we will experience floods. We will experience those things in this life.

44:40
And they work those two things. They show us where we're off and where we need to dig down deep. And we think, oh, it's a tragedy. My whole life fell apart. But God says, no, this is merciful because better to find out now that you're not founded upon the rock than later on when it's too late. But then he also uses those things to show you, look, you are founded upon the rock and you have the sure hope of heaven because that foundation will not be shaken. We will stand before God. That's the ultimate and final test of your life and faith.

45:14
And you want to make sure that your foundation is strong so that when you stand before the Lord in that day, that you will be able to stand and that you'll enter into eternity with him. Because your foundation is the rock, Jesus Christ. And how do you get that foundation? Jesus says, you go to Jesus, you hear Jesus, and then you obey Jesus. Well, finally, we see in verse 49, the other side of this picture says,

45:46
And it brings us to the third point, and that is do not build your life upon the earth. Look at verse 49. He says, But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently, and immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great. So now Jesus paints the other side of the picture. So we saw the man...

46:14
who came to Jesus, heard Jesus' words, and then obeyed them. And that's like a man who digs down deep and lays his foundation upon the rock. But now we see another man who's building a house, but he doesn't dig down deep. He lays the foundation upon the earth. And then when the flood comes, the house is not able to stand. It cannot withstand the storm. And the end result there at the end of verse 49, he says, "...the ruin of that house was great."

46:49
Now again, let me point out to you who he's talking about here because he says, but he who heard and did nothing. Again, Jesus is not writing this about people who've never heard of him. He's not writing about this, this about people who do not come to church. He's writing about, he's speaking about those who have heard Jesus's words, but then don't do them.

47:19
He's not talking about someone who doesn't know the Lord. He's talking about someone who has known Jesus, has heard Jesus, has read the Bible, has studied the Scriptures, has heard the teachings. They're familiar with the things of God. They're familiar with the words of Jesus. But they do not put it into practice. They may call Him Lord, but they do not do what He says.

47:50
And a person who calls Jesus Lord but does not live with Him as their Lord is like a man who built his house on the earth without a foundation. The word earth, it's just dirt or soil. And so they build this house upon the dirt. Now, the interesting thing is you can build a house on the dirt. You can do that. And it can look pretty nice. And you can build the exact same house...

48:19
with a strong foundation on the rock and on the dirt, and they look identical from the outside, and they look identical from the inside, you can make it look exactly the same. You can make it look really nice and be great. But it will not last. It will not endure. In fact, Jesus says, when the stream beat vehemently against it, immediately it fell. Not that it hung on for a while, and oh man, it almost made it.

48:49
Immediately, it's wiped out. It's unable to stand against the storm. And we can see that in trials of this life. There's some application there. But ultimately, we will stand before God. And there's no chance. If your life is founded upon anything else besides Jesus, there is no chance. Immediately, it will crumble. It will fall when you stand before God. If your life is not founded upon the rock.

49:26
So how do you know your life will not fall apart? Again, I would ask, are you ever wrong? Do you ever make mistakes? Do you ever go the wrong direction? Do you ever get lost and need to ask for directions? Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. We all do those things. So how do you know that your life will not fall apart? How do you know that you're not like this man who builds his house upon the earth? How do you know?

49:58
That you will stand in that final day. Well again, I would take you back to what Jesus said. You need to build your house upon the rock. And to do that, you go to Jesus. You hear Jesus. And you obey Jesus. You need to walk in that relationship with Him. And live in obedience to Him. Because you are of earth.

50:20
And so if you build your life and your faith upon what you think and your opinions and your ideas and what you think is best and what you've determined is good, you're building your life on the earth. You can go back to Genesis. We'll be there in just over a month in January as we start the book of Genesis. The Lord God formed Adam of the dust of the earth. We're made of the earth. And if we base our lives on what we think, we're building our life, we're building our house,

50:53
on the dirt and it will not stand. People are of earth and so if you base your life and your decisions and what you do on what other people say and their opinions and their perspectives and what they think is best, you're building your life, you're building your house on the earth and it will not last. Dr. Phil, he's of the earth.

51:18
He makes mistakes, he will fail. And if you build your life and base your faith on what he says, it will collapse, it will crumble, it will not last. Today in the church we see, tragically, unfortunately, we see Christian leaders fall. And we see their lives crumble. You know why that happens? Because they're not founded upon the rock. You see, it's a real issue of self-deception that we need to address. It happens in the church. It happens all the time.

51:59
People who are thoroughly convinced, I'm fine. But the reality is, you've built your house upon the dirt. And so God will allow these merciful trials to show you the foundation. And we think, oh man, it's so terrible. My life is falling apart. But God says, no, I'm showing you now how futile that way is. I'm showing you now that you are not founded upon me, that you are not basing your life upon a relationship with me. It's merciful.

52:38
Because now, as these things happen to us, we're able to respond and correct and He's able to work in us as we surrender to Him, as we come to Him, hear Him, and then obey Him. But later on, it's too late. When we stand before Him in that day, Jesus said, many, many, many, many, many who say, Lord, Lord, will come to me in that day. And they'll say, look, we did all these things. And I'll say, depart from me, I never knew you, you who practice lawlessness.

53:12
He is setting the standard. He's uncovering our foundation so that we can see. I know it's uncomfortable. And you probably don't like to think about it a whole lot. But you need to check your foundation. Make sure your life is founded upon the rock. From the outside, these two houses Jesus is describing, they look good. They were fine. Yeah, oh, great. Nice house. Other people thought the house was fine. But it doesn't matter what other people think about your life. It matters what God says about your life.

53:47
In Jesus' example here, the builder was convinced the house was good. He didn't expect it to collapse. He thought, yeah, it's fine. It'll stand. No problem. It's good. Thoroughly convinced. There's many Christians like that. Well, they call themselves Christians. They call themselves disciples. They say, Lord, Lord. And they think, I'm fine. No problem. I'm good. I have the hope of heaven. Meanwhile, there's no foundation. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 4...

54:34
He says,

55:02
If you base your life on your job, on your career, on your education, on your family, on your church, on whatever. If you base your life, if that's the foundation of your life, if you're living your life for the things that you can see, those are the things that are temporary. There's no foundation. It will collapse. It will not stand. But if you base your life on the things which are unseen, again, going to Jesus, hearing from Him, and obeying Him.

55:34
Putting into practice the things that he said. Then your life will be founded upon the rock. And when the storm comes, you will be able to stand. The storms of this life, and then the final test when you stand before God. What is your life founded upon? Listen, I don't want to, you know, be an agent of doom here or anything, but you need to understand, the United States is going to fall. It's going to happen. It's guaranteed. This nation...

56:09
is going to experience judgment. Not just this nation, the whole world. And it could happen tomorrow, and it could happen 100 years from now. We don't know. But it's going to happen. That's for sure we know. Where will you stand? Is your foundation rooted in this nation? Is your life, your whole perspective, your whole existence based upon this nation existing?

56:46
If so, you're in trouble. That's not deep enough foundation. It's going to fall. It will happen. If you're reliant upon our economy, it's going to crash. It's going to fall. If you're relying upon your stuff, anything that's seen, it's not going to last. You see, we need to go deep. We need to dig down deep. Go to the core. Deal with the real issues. It's going to happen, guys. Where's your foundation? What's your life based upon? Is your life based upon

57:31
A relationship with Jesus Christ. Where you go to Him and hear His voice and then obey what He says. Because He says, many will come to Me in that day and say, Lord, we did all kinds of things. We prayed. We went to church. We preached the gospel. We worked miracles. Now move aside and let us in. And He'll say, depart. I never knew you. You deceived yourself.

58:07
You didn't know me. I didn't know you. Listen, don't be one of those. Many will be there. That's going to happen. He said it's going to happen, but it doesn't have to be you. Don't be there. You connect with Jesus. You learn to walk with Him. You dig down deep and build your foundation. Base your life on a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

58:34
Make sure that your actions match your words. You call Him Lord, make sure that's a reality. He is the supreme authority in your life. You do nothing apart from Him. And you don't make decisions without His okay. You don't go directions without Him saying so. That you know Him, that you hear His voice and that you obey Him. Make sure you build your life upon the rock and don't base it upon this earth and the things that are seen.

59:04
Because it will not last. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, as we consider this challenge, really, that Jesus gives to us. Lord, it's a simple picture of building a house, but it challenges the core of who we are in our faith. Challenges the core and the foundation of our lives. But God, that's good. Because we need to be tested now. We need to see these things now while we can still address them.

59:38
And so God, I pray as you've uncovered, as you've revealed in our hearts, and you've already been speaking to people about issues that you want to address and foundations that need to be shored up and cracks and things that are broken down and areas that they need to dig down deep and hear from you. God, I pray as you've shown these things, Lord, that you would help us to respond, to hear your voice, and then to do what you say. Help us, God, not just to say that you are Lord Jesus,

60:09
but to live with You as the supreme authority of our lives. And God, I pray for any who need to get right with You today. Lord, that You've revealed that there really is no foundation. Their life is not founded upon that relationship with You. They're not hearing Your voice, and so of course they're not doing what You say. God, I pray that they would come to You today. Lord, that they would respond.

60:42
to what you're speaking to their hearts now, that they would believe in you, that they would repent, Lord, that they would surrender to you and truly make you their Lord. God, I pray that you would draw us all near to you. Help us to build our lives upon the rock, Lord, that we may stand in that final day before you. Not by our works, not by our goodness, but by your grace and mercy that you've extended to us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

61:22
We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.